Bootjack



nNrrED STATES 'PATENT carica.

HENRY N. DE GRAW, OF GREEN ISLAND, NEW YORK.

BOOTJACK.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 23,015, dated February 22, 1859.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HENRY N. DE GRAW, of Green Island, in the county ofAlbany and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Bootjack;and I c lo hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in whichd Figure l, represents a side elevation of my bootjack, and Fig. 2, is a transverse section of the same taken in the planeindicated by the line m, 00, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference in the two figures indicate correspondingparts of my invention.

This invention consists in connecting a swinging platform to two movablejaws by means of a guide piece of such a construction that the jaws openand close by raising or depressing the front end of the platform withoutthe aid of springs, said swinging platform to be hinged to the bottom ofthe boot jack at such points that the front end of the same may beraised or depressed by applying more or less weight to the heel or tothe toes of the foot which rests on the platform.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention I will proceed to describe it.

A, is the bottom of the boot jack which is supported at one end by a legB, so as to give it a slightly inclined position, and C, are the jawswhich are attached to the front end of the bottom A, by means of pivotsa, the position of which is strengthened by a cross brace b, whichconnects the same.

D, Ais a swinging platform which has its bearings in side pieces E,which are attached to the bottom about two thirds of its length from thefront end of the same, and the platform D, rests on pivots c, so that itcan be moved up and down freely. A spiral spring F, keeps the front endof this platform raised and a guide piece G, is attached to the underside of the same and near to its front end, which is provided with slotsel, d, which are inclined as represented in Fig. 2, and which form theguides for the back ends e, e, of the jaws C. These ends are twisted soas to conform to the inclined position of the slots The guide piece G,works into a mortise e', in the bottom A, of the boot jack and it isobvious that by depressing this guide piece the back ends e, of the jawsare forced apart and consequently the jaws will close and by raising theguide piece the back ends are brought closer together and the jaws open.

The operation is as follows :-One foot is placed on the swingingplatform D, as represented in Fig. 1, so that the heel of the boot restson that part of the platform which is behind the pivots c, while thetoes rest on the part before those pivots. The spring F, is so balancedthat it is quite easy to regulate the weight which is thrown on the toesor on the heel, and by throwing more weight on the toes the front end ofthe platform D, is depressed and the jaws close by the action of theslots (l, d, on the back ends e, e, of the same. In order therefore topull off the boots, one foot is placed on the platform so as to keep theweight of the body on the heel and the other foot with the boot isplaced between the jaws. The weight of the body is now brought to bearon the toes of the foot on the platform whereby the jaws close and takehold of the boot which is to be pulled off. After the boot has beenpulled o the weightV of the body is thrown on the heel of the foot onthe platform and the boot is released from the jaws.

I am aware that boot jacks with movable Vjaws have heretofore beenconstructed. I

do not lay claim therefore on this part of my invention; but, i

Having thus described my invention, what I do claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is,

The arrangement of a guide piece G, for the purpose of operating thejaws C, as herein described in combination with a swinging platform D,which rests on pivots c, at points between its front and back ends sothat it Vcan be operated by throwing more or less weight on the heel oron the toes of the foot placed on the same, substantially in the mannerand for the purpose specified.

vHENRY N. Dn GRAW.

Vitnesses:

WILLIAM W. SHUrnL'r, BENJAMIN F. MANIER.

